Howdy folks. I been on the forum awhile and just recently got one of the QVC over run MES 30 Gen 2.5 units. Cannot begin to say how pumped I am.

With all the rain lately, it has taken 2 weeks for me to get it up and running. I seasoned it the other night and now I am learning the in's and out's of the AMNPS on a dry smoker, before I debut my first smoke on the she beast.

I've had my issues with the AMNPS. I loaded one row and lit with a MAPP torch. (note to the newbies: don't do this IN the smoker. The resulting flames may be tall enough to reach the control panel or the plastic face plate it sits in.) It lit in 15 secs or so. I blew out the flame and placed in the cold smoker, closed the door. The result was a steady thick stream of tan to white smoke and a smoker so full of said smoke, you couldn't see anything inside. I tried pulling out the chip loader a bit, no change. Came inside to regroup and search SMF. Next remove lit AMNPS and power up smoker. Start heating to 225. At about 190 degs place AMNPS back in smoker. Chip loader still out about 1 1/2 inches.Now I have thin smoke, still a little white, but can actually see inside the smoker. It's hard to tell if smoke is bluish against a blue house.

Any suggestions on AMNPS placement ? Mine is about a 1/4 too wide (5x8) to fit between the wall and the shroud work around the element. Won't fit below unless I remove the drip pan completely. Currently I have it on the bottom shelf on left side.

Might it be better to place on right side, The heat flows from lower right to the vent on upper left. Wouldn't it make sense for the smoke to ?

For what it's worth I am using Todds hickory pellets. I bought 20 lbs to get the shipping free and knowing I was going to burn some experimenting. I got other flavors too, but not enough to waste on dry runs.